Question
I'm wondering what other cards carry benefits similiar to Amex Platinum and Citi Chairman.
Answer
not that I Know of....look up the chairman card and its benefits...I think it is better than the Platinum..
Answer
I'm wondering what other cards carry benefits similiar to Amex Platinum and Citi Chairman.
Merrill Lynch Plus Card is vaguely similar.
PROS
- No fee
- Low interest rate
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
- Free AA/DL Club Membership when you spend $50,000 per year
- Concierge
CONS
- Only 1 point/$
- Must spend $50,000 per year to get the real perks
- No hotel club status
A side note: You can also purchase an AA/DL Club Membership for 35,000 Merrill Plus points.
Answer
There's also Diner's Club:
Pro: lounge access, mostly in Europe
Pro: you can transfer points to anyone's account (except for BA), useful to keep my wife's and my son's accounts alive
Pro: primary rental car insurance, even in US
Pro: cheap ($95)
Con: guests are typically extra for lounge access, lounges are non-existent in US (except for MIA and EWR)
Con: only 1 point/$
Con: benefits have been 'enhanced' lately, restaurant savings program is gone (a plus for some, since you can now iDine instead), no more transfers to UA, DL, and CO (a big negative for me)
Con: 3% foreign transaction fee (like most cards, the Merrill+ Visa being one exception)
Con: no elite membership in Starwood (Amex Plat) or Hilton (Chairman)
I have the Chairman (lounge access), the Merrill+ (foreign transactions), and the Diner's Club (rental car insurance) in my wallet. For most actual spending though I use my trusty Amex SPG.
Answer
There's also Diner's Club:
Pro: lounge access, mostly in Europe
Pro: you can transfer points to anyone's account (except for BA), useful to keep my wife's and my son's accounts alive
Pro: primary rental car insurance, even in US
Pro: cheap ($95)
Con: guests are typically extra for lounge access, lounges are non-existent in US (except for MIA and EWR)
Con: only 1 point/$
Con: benefits have been 'enhanced' lately, restaurant savings program is gone (a plus for some, since you can now iDine instead), no more transfers to UA, DL, and CO (a big negative for me)
Con: 3% foreign transaction fee (like most cards, the Merrill+ Visa being one exception)
Con: no elite membership in Starwood (Amex Plat) or Hilton (Chairman)
I have the Chairman (lounge access), the Merrill+ (foreign transactions), and the Diner's Club (rental car insurance) in my wallet. For most actual spending though I use my trusty Amex SPG.
I also use Chairman (lounge access) and Merrill+ (foreign transactions). However, I prefer HH Amex for most spending because I believe that it has superior yield for premium hotel stays, which I use regularly. (It offers 5 pts/$ for restaurants/supermarkets/drug/gas).
Why do you use Diners Club for Rental Car insurance? I use Chairman because it seemed like they had "superior" coverage, i.e. coverage for more expensive vehicles and more countries.
Answer
Why do you use Diners Club for Rental Car insurance? I use Chairman because it seemed like they had "superior" coverage, i.e. coverage for more expensive vehicles and more countries.
I haven't had a chance to look at the fine print for the Chairman card yet: I upgraded a Citi Aadvantage card just last week. All I have is my new PriorityPass card (which they Fedexed to me, very cool). They said I can just use the AA card until I get the new one, as the number doesn't change
Diner's Club is interesting because the coverage is always primary. For most cards that happens only internationally. i.e. if you bend a card in the US then your own auto insurance would be involved (if you own a car that is).
The only other card I know like this is business MasterCard, but then only when the rental is business related.
The $95/year was worth it for me last year, where I rented cars for >10 days non-business. It wasn't this year since I didn't rent a car myself at all. I called Diner's though and they're crediting me with $95 (so basically I get it for free).
The only other benefit that's worth anything for me is the point transfer to anyone (but not CO/DL/UA anymore).
If they change the primary rental car insurance then the card is going to get the scissors...
Answer
However, I prefer HH Amex for most spending because I believe that it has superior yield for premium hotel stays, which I use regularly. (It offers 5 pts/$ for restaurants/supermarkets/drug/gas).
I use a 5% cash back card for groceries/drugs/gas. I may switch to Chairman TY points for those, simplify my life a little.
With SPG you can transfer to most airlines at 1:1.25. I have used that on occasion.
My main use though is for hotels. SPG is great for short stays, especially in Europe. I can typically get 3 to 5.5% effective cash back that way. My last redemption for example was 7000 points (instead of $250) so 3.6%.
I'll have to give some thoughts about using HH Amex for restaurants (I also have that one, mainly for access to the AXON awards). I was using it only for Hilton stays so far. Thanks for the tip.
Answer
I haven't had a chance to look at the fine print for the Chairman card yet: I upgraded a Citi Aadvantage card just last week. All I have is my new PriorityPass card (which they Fedexed to me, very cool). They said I can just use the AA card until I get the new one, as the number doesn't change
Diner's Club is interesting because the coverage is always primary. For most cards that happens only internationally. i.e. if you bend a card in the US then your own auto insurance would be involved (if you own a car that is).
The only other card I know like this is business MasterCard, but then only when the rental is business related.
The $95/year was worth it for me last year, where I rented cars for >10 days non-business. It wasn't this year since I didn't rent a car myself at all. I called Diner's though and they're crediting me with $95 (so basically I get it for free).
The only other benefit that's worth anything for me is the point transfer to anyone (but not CO/DL/UA anymore).
If they change the primary rental car insurance then the card is going to get the scissors...
Hmmm... Primary insurance may be worth it on Diners. I will check into it.
As for Chairman Card... The points add up really fast.
My interpretation of this is... If I fly alot on the card, every purchase point will get matched by a flight point, i.e. at least 2 pts/$. On every day spending I get 1 pt + 1 matching flight point + 2 select points = 4 pts/$.
That means 2 to 4 pts per $ which is an exceptional yield. I have spent less than $12,000 this year on the card, but earned 27,000 thank you points in just 4 months. (Due to select spend points and flight points).
Don't listen the "nay-say-ers" about the card. The only people that complain about the point system are those that don't have the card.
Oh...here's a tip on the ML+ card. If you spend $20k on the card in a year, AA will match your status on another airline. (This is a hidden benefit.)
Answer
Don't listen the "nay-say-ers" about the card. The only people that complain about the point system are those that don't have the card.
Oh...here's a tip on the ML+ card. If you spend $20k on the card in a year, AA will match your status on another airline. (This is a hidden benefit.)
I got the ML+ card too, and did the status match. Now, if I could fly AA... I have yet to do one segment with them the last 12 months. I only use the ML card for foreign transactions (no fee) since they dropped the Ritz-Carlton program.
I used to have a Premier Pass Elite. The points added up really fast, especially with the 15K signup bonus. I spent 40K on the card, lots of plane tickets in there, and wound up with 110K points, which I foolishly exchanged for $1100 in gift cards (Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples). Fuss free and an effective cash back of 2.7%. I could have done even better redeeming for flights, at the price of a little more effort.
Sorry about hijacking the thread. Anyone want to pipe in for Amex Plat or as to the original question?